


Lightning in a Bottle

by intothenowhere



Series: Many Pathways, Many Choices [1]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: Rise of Empire Era - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Character Study, Family Feels, Gen, Introspection, Rising Above Shitty Childhood
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-20
Updated: 2018-12-20
Packaged: 2019-09-23 05:09:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,304
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17074010
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/intothenowhere/pseuds/intothenowhere
Summary: Years ago, Volya Doneeta's life was upended by an expected betrayal from her closest confidant and friend, her Master. She tucked herself away, putting her goals on hold, until a call came that she couldn't refuse.Now, her journey has begun again...





	Lightning in a Bottle

**Author's Note:**

> This was inspired by @celebrate-the-clone-wars' prompt for today, which was "promotion." They encouraged the use of OCs, so I decided to take an introspective look at one of my favorite original characters - Volya Doneeta.
> 
> Luckily, there is a moment in "canon" where Volya is actually promoted - she's transferred from the archives into the role of diplomat. I thought it would be interesting to get a glimpse at her thoughts directly after this.
> 
> The canon Volya originates from is an interwoven thing between me and my friends, and there's lots of references to their characters, the campaigns we've written, and even an appearance by one! I'm crediting them all, via Tumblr username as I'm not certain of their handles here:
> 
> The 439th, Misi and Tip belong to transboba, Amaranth belongs to naberiie, Azlin to evaceratops, and Brider & Thof belong to depabillabaa. 
> 
> Drask and Jahoun are also of my own creation.
> 
> Note: Drask was a fallen Jedi who followed Sith idealogy. There are references to her grooming Volya to be her Sith apprentice. Please precede with caution. 
> 
> As always, comment your thoughts below!

Volya sat cross-legged in front of one of the many view ports on  _ the Mercurial _ . She saw the vastness of space - an endless void with sparks of life like lightning here and there, storm clouds in a kaleidoscope of colors in the shape of nebulae - not with her eyes, but with the Force.

 

Lately, there had been a heaviness to the song that surrounded and filled her and every living creature in the universe - a creeping shadow of something dark, a poison seeping into an open water well, corrupting crops and killing innocents. She recognized the feeling well enough - it had clouded her master, Drask, for months until her inevitable betrayal that night in the heart of the Jedi Temple. 

 

Now, however, the Force is light; it's golden and thrumming, racing through the halls of  _ the Mercurial  _ like children playing, and she can sense her friends - all of the 439th, Misi and Tip, Amaranth and Azlin, Brider - like stars in the field beyond them, sparking light and life into the world around them.

 

_ “Your request has been accepted, Knight Doneeta.”  _ Master Windu said, the icy blue hologram of the Council flickering in and out as he said it. “ _ Once your time on  _ the Mercurial  _ with General Misi is over, you'll return to the Temple to begin your first solo mission.” _

 

A smile had passed across General Kenobi's face as he said, “ _ Congratulations, young one. You'll do well, no doubt.” _

 

Once the connection was ended, Volya had nearly tackled Misi with a hug and promptly followed it with about a thousand  _ thank yous  _ for offering to put a word in for her. After that, she'd stepped off the bridge, her body practically thrumming with the energy built up inside her, like lightning in a bottle, and in her haze realized there was someone very important she needed to comm.

 

Volya had stepped away into a quieter space aboard the ship, smiling and waving at the troopers she recognized, and pulled out her commlink to contact Thof Templii. Volya had many sources of love and light and hope in her life, but Thof was her stable ground - the warm arms that would always gently pull her up when she hit the ground.

 

She was the best Master Volya never officially had; and the most wonderful mother Volya had never known. 

 

The commlink crackled to life, and a few seconds later, Thof's voice filled the air. Her voice was a strange sort of combination; cool in sound, like water rippling, but in the Force, it was warm like gold.

 

“Volya, I'm so glad to hear you - Jahoun mentioned over tea your mission sent you to  _ Tython _ ?”

 

Volya sighed, sagging against the wall, “It did. We all survived, but it was terrifying. We just left Mandalore, and I -” Volya paused, decided it'd be best to keep her little street fight a secret from Thof, “And General Misi suggested I ask for a transfer.”

 

“Oh? To what?”

 

“To be an active diplomat, helping people with my words.”  _ Like you, sort of.  _ “Helping the Clones, when I can.”

 

There was a long pause, and then a content exhale, “I've not heard you so excited about field work in a long time, Volya. It seems this missions has renewed your zest for adventure.”

 

“It's not  _ only  _ because I want adventure, I want to help people too.” Volya protested.

 

“Oh I know that,” Thof said with a warm laugh, “But you never lost your spark for helping others. There's a reason you accepted Jahoun's offer to sign a transfer for the Archives and it wasn't just to heal from…”

 

They both fell quiet, and Volya nodded before remembering Thof couldn't see her, “I know. I, uh, actually just left the bridge - Misi put in a good word for me with the Council -”

 

“Already?” 

 

Volya laughed, “It's kind of always at breakneck speed with the 439th. The Council accepted it -  I am officially a diplomat.”

 

“Volya, that's - I'm so proud of you. Seeing you grow from a youngling into the talented Knight you are now, after everything you've faced. You are a resilient young woman.”

 

Volya swallowed thickly, eyes burning. “Hey,” she said with a choked laugh, “I learned from the best.”

 

“Well of course, you spent the better half of your years with some of the best Masters, apprentices and civilians - Jahoun, Amaranth, Jocasta, Brider -

 

“And you,” Volya butted in. “You've always been there for me. I wouldn't be here without you, Master.”

 

Thof paused for a long moment, then sighed, “It seems Caleb Dume is causing a ruckus in the Archives again - before I go...I really am proud of you, Volya. May the Force be with you.”

 

“May the Force be with you,” Volya replied, and then the line went dead. She smiled, tucking the commlink under her chin for a moment, then stood up from her spot on the floor, and turning round toward the viewport and shivering slightly. 

 

There was so much out there she hadn't seen yet. Tython had been the tip of an iceberg, the tipping point of her true journey. It had tried and tested her, nearly broken her, and in the remnants of it, her friends had helped her back up, reminded her of who she was - and now she was here, with her future at her fingertips, long overdue.

 

Pettily, she wished Drask could see her. She'd been a mere nine years old when Drask had found her skimming through texts in the Archives late one night, and a short time later, she was her apprentice. They butted heads sometimes - as a Jedi Guardian, Drask was more often to use her lightsaber than her brain. Though, as time grew on, Volya soon realized that was simply the way of her master.

 

Volya's fist clenched as she thought of the scar on her right lekku, so close to her neck. The bacta had healed the cut from Drask's blade, but it'd done very little to mask the scar. 

 

Drask had groomed her to be her own Sith Apprentice. Those two words fill Volya's head like burning coals, heavy and scalding with their purpose. Stars knew how many techniques Volya knew, taught to her by Drask, were not of Jedi origin but Sith -

 

She inhaled sharply, slipping her eyes shut, and letting the Force flow through her, a guiding glow to ward off the dark thoughts - memories of a burnt orange saber at her throat, and tendrils at either side of her head, suckling away at her life force, faded into a foggy nothingness, leaving Volya with only a savage triumph.

 

She was a consular, like she always wanted to be. She was going to help people, like she'd always wanted. Drask had tried and failed to turn her, and now Volya was standing on top of her own world, while Drask rotted away in prison.

 

It wasn't the Jedi way, to hold such a bitter satisfaction, but at the moment, Volya didn't give a damn, and she stood a little straighter.

 

Whatever came next, she could handle it. Drask, Tython, Mandalore - officially, the Council had declared Drask her own test and trials, and knighted her soon after, but for Volya, her time aboard  _ the Mercurial  _ was the true test.

 

She'd come aboard as a still healing apprentice, unsure of her own rank, having spent the better half of the war in the archives as she tried to lick her own wounds. Now, she stood proud - a Knight, with a song in her heart, and a fiery determination in her soul.

 

Volya grinned, her canines flashing, child-like, as she stepped away from the viewport, and strode with renewed purpose back to the training room. Her hands felt empty without her sabers, for the first time in years. It was time she reacquainted herself with them. 


End file.
